On winter weather and geckos (not really doll-related)

I hope those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a good one.  I certainly did; we had family to see, food to make, and oddly enough, houses to sit!  Yep, I've been house-sitting, thus why I did not get any of the reviews I had planned finished.  At the moment it looks like I may have ample time to complete them this week...because the weather is going to be downright NASTY.  Here's what our Special Weather Statement looks like (it's not pretty):

...SIGNIFICANT ICE STORM BECOMING INCREASINGLY LIKELY THURSDAY
NIGHT INTO FRIDAY NIGHT...

AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL SURGE THROUGH THE MIDSOUTH LATE
WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND INTO THURSDAY MORNING. ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL FALL THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND
NIGHT THURSDAY WITH PERIODS OF MODERATE RAIN AND A FEW CRACKS OF
THUNDER. BY MID EVENING FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL MOVE INTO
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS WITH RAIN CHANGING OVER TO FREEZING RAIN. BY
FRIDAY MORNING FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL HAVE MADE THEIR WAY TO
JUST NORTH OF I-40...AND BY EARLY AFTERNOON INTO NORTH
MISSISSIPPI. FREEZING RAIN AND SOME SLEET WILL SPREAD SOUTH AND
EAST ON FRIDAY WITH ACTIVITY TAPERING OFF ACROSS THE WEST BY
FRIDAY EVENING...AND EVENTUALLY ACROSS THE EAST EARLY SATURDAY
MORNING.

THE HEAVIEST ICE ACCUMULATION FOR NOW APPEARS TO BE NORTH OF I-40
AND COULD EASILY EXCEED A HALF OF AN INCH...AFFECTING THE CITIES
OF JONESBORO...KENNETT...DYERSBURG AND BLYTHEVILLE. ICE ACCUMULATIONS
EXCEEDING A QUARTER OF AN INCH ARE PROBABLE IN THE I-40 CORRIDOR
AFFECTING THE MEMPHIS METRO...JACKSON...AND FORREST CITY. BUT
THESE EARLY DETERMINATIONS ARE BY NO MEANS SET IN STONE.
ADDITIONAL FREEZING RAIN AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE
SATURDAY NIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY AS A SECOND STORM PASSES THROUGH.

PLEASE STAY TUNED OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS ON THIS UNFOLDING
WINTER STORM. MIDSOUTHERNERS SHOULD PREPARE FOR TRAVEL
DIFFICULTIES AND POTENTIAL POWER OUTAGES WITH THIS STORM.

I think I should point out that Malden, Missouri, where I currently live, is twenty-six miles north of Kennett.  In a widespread storm such as this Kennett and Malden usually get the same thing.  That was the case the last time we had an ice storm like this, back in 2009.  I was in Cape Girardeau then, which got maybe an inch of ice and eight inches of snow on top of that.  It was enough to prompt SEMO to call off classes for the rest of the week, but it was nothing compared to what areas to the south got.  I think Malden got six and a half inches of ice, an additional foot of snow, then another half inch of ice on top of the snow.  Power was out for a month in some parts of the area, which meant that the houseplants I'd had to leave at home all froze to death.  Every major tree in the area was either destroyed or badly damaged, including my grandmother's crab apple tree, which was split down the middle under the weight of so much ice.  I'll spare you my thoughts on that as they're quite lengthy, but let me just say that it's the first and only time that I've gone hippie-level crazy over a tree.  I was grief-stricken.  No lie.

Now it's 2013 and I have another reason to worry.

This is Horatio, my crested gecko.  I obtained him from a friend who wasn't really sure how to care for him (long, complicated story).  He'd been all but starved to death before she got him, and he wouldn't eat the food that she had, so I ended up with him.  He's come a long way since I got him in January, and I'm very fond of him.  Today Mama and I are going out to fetch some provisions, and I'm trying to think of something that will keep him warm without costing us an arm and a leg.  There's no guarantee that we'll lose power, but I'm not taking any chances.  Whatever goes down, I'll keep you posted.

Yours somewhat-nervously,
RagingMoon1987